media commentary on Kerry speech

I'm posting this thread to keep beachmom's really good thread separate from commentary on last night's speech
Here's a media account I found this morning, by Major Garrett, in the nonpartisan National Journal.
The headline:
John Kerry's Revenge on the Flip Flop

The man who could be the next secretary of State, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., finally buried the biggest gaffe of his 2004 run for the White House and turned it against GOP nominee Mitt Romney.
Kerry wobbled in 2004 when he famously said "I actually did vote for before I voted against it" when discussing Iraq and Afghanistan war funding.. . it was the flip-flop heard around the world. On Thursday, Kerry flung straight at Romney's forehead. Democratic delegates heard a resounding slap.
Kerry ticked off a list of apparently conflicting Romney positions on intervention in Libya, withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, and a timeline for bringing U.S. forces home from Afghanistan."Talk about being for it before you were against it," Kerry said. "Mr. Romney—here's a little advice: Before you debate Barack Obama on foreign policy, you better finish the debate with yourself!"
Kerry also brought the "are you better off" debate into the foreign-policy arena.
"Ask Osama bin Laden if he is better off now than he was four years ago," he told the delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

1. Here is the Boston Globe

In 2006, when Kerry, then hoping to wage a second campaign for president, botched a joke in a way that let partisans foes accuse him (absurdly) of insulting our troops in Iraq, Romney pounced.

When he accepted the GOP nomination last week, Romney raised eyebrows by neglecting to mention our troops.

On Thursday, Kerry pounced. “No nominee for president should ever fail in the midst of a war to pay tribute to our troops overseas in his acceptance speech,” Kerry thundered. “Mitt Romney was talking about America. They are on the front lines every day defending America, and they deserve our thanks.”

...
Playing the role of both elder statesman and partisan provocateur, Senator John F. Kerry told Democratic convention delegates Thursday that President Obama “is giving new life and truth to America’s indispensable role in the world” and called Republican challenger Mitt Romney “extreme” when it comes to foreign policy.

Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, played chief foreign policy surrogate for Obama in a rapid-fire speech that swept through a series of international accomplishments over the last four years and pointedly warned voters that electing Romney and running mate Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin would damage American interests overseas.

“So on one side of this campaign, we have a president who has made America lead like America again,” Kerry said. “What is there on the other side? An extreme and expedient candidate, who lacks the judgment and vision so vital in the Oval Office.”
...
Kerry also tweaked Romney on another issue he had long tried to pass in the Senate: curbs on greenhouse gases blamed for global warning.

“Despite what you heard in Tampa, an exceptional country does care about the rise of the oceans and the future of the planet,” he said, referring to Romney’s derisive comments on Obama last week. “That is a responsibility from the Scriptures — and that too is the responsibility of the leader of the free world.”

I love the fact they felt necessary to quote Cooper to criticize Kerry's choice. Cooper is barely a supporter of Obama. He probably votes more often with the GOP (at least on economic issues).

2. the reporter only talked to one delegate?

really absurd for the Globe to single out Cooper for commentary, of all people.
And comments from no one else? no one in MA? no one else on the floor in that convention?
The Globe drives me nuts.Looks like Brian Bender's (the reporter's) beat is security matters. . so he probably knows Cooper from his military- and security-oriented reporting life. But wow: really lazy reporting.
Until the Cooper quote, article was reasonable

3. That is strange and a poor job

Would the Boston Globe have quoted a Tennessee blue dog on, say, Kennedy's SCHIP legislation? I have never heard him mentioned in any foreign policy article and as you say, he is not from MA. What he is is one of the bluest blue dogs in the entire House. In fact, it is not just Massachusetts liberals he dislikes, he was one of three Democrats to vote against the Americans with disability Act. He is a big NRA guy.

The fact is that war hero John Kerry was excellently positioned to speak of Romney not mentioning the troops. In addition, he proved in 2004 that he was excellent on foreign policy - so much so that a biased media did not even try to spin the first debate for Bush As to not being able to move independents on foreign policy, it is FACT that he did just that in the more difficult atmosphere in 2004 because of that debate performance.

4. Strange from The Glob!

That's my Congressman. He is a true Blue Dog (Cohen of Memphis is the other and only Dem, a Progressive one).

Cooper hasn't exactly been out there for Obama either (he endorsed him on 08); though he has no problem standing in front of an HBCU (an alma mater) or on the north side of town asking for our votes in every election cycle.

But the flip side, Davidson County will stay blue. Our mayor was raised in Gardner, MA and one of Kerry's TN field directors ran his re-election campaign.

This is how TN rolls, GOP gov, a DINO plant to run against Corker, and GOP controlled state House/Senate, anti-Obamas attitudes, xenophobia, and loathing of "Big Guv'ment."

It's the Bible Belt and we can only hope things get better. Go figure.

5. Chris Matthews gave JK props on Hardball tonight

in his "Let me Finish" segment tonight (Fri, Sept 7) , Matthews singled out Deval Patrick and Sen. Kerry as the best Dem speakers for Obama. (aside from the headliners Michelle Obama and Pres Clinton). He called the Patrick and Kerry speeches "barnburners", said they should be out there every day from now to election.

6. On progressive talk radio today

JK got all sorts of praise from Ed Schultz, who added that Kerry would have made an excellent president (yep) and that he would have been without all the shenigans in Ohio in 2004.

Even Randi Rhodes (who has often bitched about JK in the past -- unfairly I've thought) said he did "kick ass" job on his speech.

Earlier today neither my husband nor I could find mention of JK on early talk shows. It was all about Jennifer Granholm (who was terrific in her own way). I'm glad to see that he did get recognition for his excellent speech.

10. What I love is that Palin was so stupid and self absorbed,

that her idiotic response led to Kerry's comment being replayed at least hourly cable all Friday. Could it be possible that she was hurting Romney. It was a funny line designed to tell a truth and get a laugh at the convention, but it got far more coverage than anyone could have predicted.

Worse for Romney, it led to the quote being replayed and ALL the discussion mostly making fun of Palin. None of the times I heard the coverage had a word of defense for Romney. This means the attack was repeated often with absolutely no push back - and while many laughed at Palin - many might have allowed the idea that Romney has NO FP experience to become CW.